| abstract
| - The term Antimormon refers to a person or organization who actively opposes the mission of the Mormon Church. This is not the same as disagreeing with the claims of Mormonism, or even disliking Mormons. The differentiating factor is that those in the anti-Mormon camp undertake to assault and vilify the Church and its members through books, pamphlets, videos, protests, and internet sites. Because of the historical consciousness of persecution that Mormons have faced, many Mormons are sensitive, and sometimes overly so, to criticism. Moreover, Mormonism teaches that unity and loyalty to one another are very important. This leads many to believe that any critique of Mormonism or even of prominent members is an attack on the faith and the community. The ideal of unity means that vociferous internal critique can be viewed as disloyal or even apostate. This is not always true. Antimormon attacks have traditionally come from one of two philosophical orientations: religious movements who view Mormonism as either a threat or a cult, and secular humanists who see in Mormonism a discomfiting paradox of American determination and anti-rationalism, even superstitious belief. What distinguishes a true anti-Mormon from a mere critic or critical non-believer in Mormonism is that anti-Mormons are attempting to destroy or fight the Mormon Church. These attackers generally follow certain prescribed formulas. They present themselves as neutral, unbiased experts on Mormonism who have a genuine love for the Mormon people, whom they view as benighted and deceived by vicious, hypocritical leaders. Typically they use emotionally charged terms like “cult” and frequently misrepresent Mormon beliefs or else use quotes out of context to make Mormonism appear strange and exotic, the opposite of what is “Christian” or “rational.” They stoke prejudice and even legal harassment, which has followed the Church since the days of Joseph Smith. Many either are or pretend to be former members and using that launching point, describe how they were supposedly duped by the lying Mormons into their Church. Anti-Mormonism is generally divided into four periods: the initial wave of ad hominem attacks against Joseph Smith by outsiders and bitter ex-Mormons (1820-1846); the exoticizing and orientalizing of Mormonism during the struggle against polygamy (1846-1896), the rise of psychological and naturalistic explanations for Mormon origins (1897-1945); finally, the rise of the anti-cult and conspiratorial denunciations (1946-present). It should be noted that dates are approximate and are limiting since many naturalistic critiques are still written and the anti-cult movement utilizes ad hominem and straw-man attacks frequently. Today, attempts to exoticize Mormons are less effective since growth of the Church has brought many people into contact with them. This requires anti-Mormons to create elaborate conspiracy theories to explain the alleged secret truth about Mormonism.
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